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Cattle export boss says new markets more critical than ever

Cattle from northern Australia are struggling to find a place in an oversupplied Queensland cattle market.

Charlie McKillop

The head of the Australia Livestock Exporters' Council says developing new markets has never been more critical for the cattle industry, as the loss of Indonesian imports continues to bite hard in northern Australia.

Alison Penfold has been in Far North Queensland meeting with cattle producers who are reeling from drought and an oversupplied domestic cattle market.

She says inroads are being made in new markets such as Vietnam, which could help fill the gap for heavy cattle, in particular, left by Indonesia.

"We've had up to 700,000 head exported out of north Australia in the past, so when you're down to 260,000 head and you need to move your cattle, it makes it pretty difficult," she said.

"We are working as hard as we can... we are hopeful that we are at the bottom of the curve in terms of numbers of exports and from here on in we'll see much higher levels."